Slaying in Storybrooke
by Btvsobsessed623
Summary: Emma is just getting back into the swing of things when Storybrooke residents start going missing and an old friend comes to town. The friend helps Storybrooke defeat the latest baddie and helps give Regina and Emma the small push they need. Set after the events of Going Home, but without jumping ahead 1 year, just a couple of weeks.
1. Chapter 1

This was written for the Swan Queen Big Bang unintentional challenge and is a crossover with Buffy, but I didn't want to put it in the crossover section cause it annoys me.

If you haven't seen Buffy before, you should be okay, but you should also probably remedy that immediately.

The art for this fic was made by supernana494 and you can check it out here /works/2304128

A big thank you to my cheerleader/beta, katherine737, who gave me necessary pushes and was an amazing soundboard.

Thanks to my betas, who had great feedback and put up with several last minute requests. 

*inserts standard "I don't own the characters" disclaimer*

* * *

><p>Emma was just reaching for the last bear claw when her phone chimed with a text from Ruby.<p>

_You can't eat bear claws for breakfast and lunch all the time. You're going to get fat._

_Aw, thanks Rubes._

_Anytime ;)_

_Now I know you didn't just text me about my eating habits. What's going on?_

_Diner for lunch today?__  
><em>We've got a visitor.<em>_

Emma sighed, she was barely back from New York for a week and there was a potential threat. Visitors in Storybrooke usually meant trouble of some sort. She texted Ruby back

_Be there in 10._and gathered herself. She wanted to make an effort to look like her only reason for going to the diner was food related, and not checking out the visitor. She left her gun locked up, only leaving her handcuffs and pepper spray on her belt. Mary Margaret would probably have a fit if she knew. Lately, her mother had been a tad overprotective. She called to David, who was in the records room, to let him know she was stepping out, then left. She took the cruiser, just in case, and drove down to Granny's. When she got there, she noticed a motorcycle out front with Ohio plates that read "Slayer 2." _Well, at least we know they're definitely from out of state._

She walked into Granny's, scanning the booths looking for the stranger. When Emma saw the brunette in the corner booth, facing the door, she stopped dead in her tracks, nearly knocking down Archie, who was walking behind her. The woman looked up from her phone at the small commotion. When she saw Emma, her mouth dropped open in shock.

"E? Is that you?" Emma nodded, and the woman waved her over.

"Faith? What the hell are you doing here?!" Emma grabbed her into a hug, then punched her in the arm.

Faith clutched her arm in mock hurt, "What was that for?"

"What the hell do you think? You just leave Boston with no explanation except for a post card a few days later, then I don't hear from you again? It's been 14 years! You were like a sister!"

Faith got a guilty look on her face, "I'm sorry 'bout that. I actually do have a good explanation... but not here."

Before she could tear into Faith more, Emma remembered that she was yelling in the relatively crowded diner of the town she was the sheriff of. There was no way that the whole town wouldn't know by tomorrow.

Faith gestured to the booth, "Do you want to join me? We can catch up and you can keep an eye on me, make sure I'm not disturbing the peace."

Emma nodded and both women sat down. "You caught that huh?"

"I've been here for 15 minutes. Excellent response time, Sheriff. Although next time, you might want to make it less obvious that you're checking out the town stranger. You might also want to let the waitress know that she could be a little more discreet too."

"Noted." Emma waved down Ruby, indicating that she'd like her usual. The two women looked each other over, while they were silently debating with themselves about who would speak first. Faith looked older; she had definitely been through some shit. Emma noticed she was wearing a cross, which was unusual; the Faith she grew up with had never been that particularly religious. She filed that and the ring on Faith's left hand away to ask about later.

Faith broke the silence first. "Soo… How've you been?" Emma noticed that the Boston accent that used to be so prevalent was barely noticeable.

"Oh you know, the usual, met a boy, got arrested…" Emma trailed off, adding '_got pregnant, gave up the baby, met him 10 years later and found out I'm Snow White and Prince Charming's Daughter.'_in her head. "How about you?" Faith started to answer but Emma cut her off, "No, wait, let me guess, Five by Five? Right?"

Faith laughed, it had been years since she heard someone say that. "Somethin' like that. Lemme guess, girl meets boy, boy gets girl involved in life of crime, boy leaves girl holding a bag of stolen watches and with a bun in the oven, girl goes to prison while boy skips town?" At Emma's surprised look, Faith added, "Just because I left doesn't mean I didn't check up on you. How the hell did you end up sheriff?"

"I was elected, if you can believe were easy to track down too. You know, if I were still working as a bail bonds person, I might consider bringing you in. How the hell are you so out in the open like this if you broke out of prison?"

Before Faith could answer, Ruby interrupted with their food. "Enjoy! And if you need anything else, just let me know."

"Thanks Rubes."

Faith waited until Ruby walked away and there was nobody within earshot, "How do you know about me breaking out of prison? Those records were supposed to go away."

"Well, I knew you were arrested and given a very long sentence, but you're sitting in front of me. It doesn't take a genius..." Emma trailed off with a look that said, "Give me some credit."

"If it makes a difference, I had a good reason, it was life or death."

Emma scoffed, "I'm sure."

"I'm serious! Look, I can't get into it all now, but I will later." Faith picked up her burger and took a big bite in an attempt to stop that line of questions.

"So you're planning on sticking around for a while?"

"Of course, I've got a job to do." Faith hadn't meant for it to slip out, and instantly regretted it. This was why the gang didn't send her out for things like this; she sucked at undercover.

"What do you mean, you've got a job to do?" Emma had to stop herself from raising her voice, she could not cause a scene. Not here. "Faith…Why. Are. You. Here? How did you even find Storybrooke?"

Faith sighed and put down the burger, she was better off just being upfront, "Don't panic, the barrier is still intact, nobody can cross it without help, and there are only a few people powerful enough to sense it, let alone get through it." She pulled out a small amulet, "This is how I did it, a friend of mine made it for me. As for why I'm here? It's work related, but I promise, I'm here to help."

Emma's mind immediately went to the missing residents. "What do you mean, you're here to help?" Emma let her fingers trace over the amulet, she could sense something coming from it, and she guessed it was the magic. Regina had taught her how to sense magic in different objects when they were in Neverland. "Wait, you know about magic?"

"Of course I do, I'm also good friends with the best witch in the country, easily the world." Faith leaned closer and lowered her voice, "Is there anything funny going on in this town? Something that started recently?" Emma hesitated and Faith put her hand on Emma's arm, "Trust me, E. What's going on?"

Emma pulled her arm away. "Don't do that. Don't expect me to just blindly trust you, I'm not that 14 year old girl anymore, and I'm still pissed at you for leaving. You're not telling me the whole truth."

Faith sat back in her seat and crossed her arms, "Really? We're going to play that game? You live in a town that is completely off the map and surrounded by an extremely powerful barrier." Faith smirked, "Do I need to mention the fact that the town looks like it's stuck in the 80s?"

A loud crash interrupted them, Ruby had dropped a tray while bussing the booth next to them. Emma couldn't remember the last time she dropped anything. It took her a minute before she remembered Ruby's very excellent hearing. She was eavesdropping on them and the idea that someone knew this much about Storybrooke scared her. Before Emma could jump up and help Ruby pick up some of the dropped silverware, Faith was already there.

Faith put a comforting hand on Ruby's shoulder, whispering something that Emma couldn't make out. Whatever it was made Ruby relax.

When Ruby walked away, Emma looked at Faith with a raised eyebrow. "What was that about? You're usually riling people up, not calming them down. What did you say to her?"

"I told her that she had nothing to worry about, that I would keep whatever secrets this town had."

Emma contemplated what Faith had said, using the time to eat more of the food that had spent most of the conversation untouched. Faith followed suit, not wanting to push Emma more than necessary. This was not the way she wanted to deal with any of this.

Emma broke the silence with one question. "Why?"

"Look at me. Am I telling the truth? Use that lie detector of yours, unless you've forgotten what I taught you about reading people?" Faith was goading Emma a little, and they both knew it.

Emma smiled but didn't take the bait, "You're not lying. About any of it, and that's the scary part about all of this. You're pretty relaxed for someone who seems to know that there's more to Storybrooke than meets the eye."

"Like I said, I'll explain, just not here, not now. Can we get a drink or something later? After your shift?"

Emma nodded and stood up, "I'm on call though, so I may have to cut it short. I'll be back around 6:30? Does that work?"

"Yep, now get back to that boring desk job you call police work." Faith got up and pulled Emma in for a hug. "It's really good to see you, Emma."

"Sheriff Swan, may I speak with you?"

Emma practically jumped away from Faith when she heard Regina speak, but recovered quickly. Regina hadn't called her Sheriff Swan in a while, and Emma knew that she was about to be reprimanded for something.

Faith stepped back and sat back into the booth, trying to blend in and be the silent observer.

"Of course, Madame Mayor. How can I help you?"

Regina lowered her voice, but kept the authoritative tone. "Why is it that I had to hear from Kathryn that someone crossed the town line?"

"What? How did she know?"

Regina pointed over to a corner, where Kathryn was having lunch with a woman that Emma didn't know. "You're supposed to be sheriff, but you can't even keep track of who's in a small diner? How does that keep my son safe?"

Emma was hurt by Regina calling Henry her son. They had been doing so well since the events in Neverland, it felt like a step back. "Our son. He's our son, Regina. I didn't get a chance to tell you. I figured you were owed more than just a quick text message saying by the way, we have a stranger. I was going to go to your office and explain, once I had an idea about what was going on. Now if you'd like, I can introduce you to Faith, or we can go straight to your office and actually have a conversation. I can tell you that I know her and we can trust her."

Regina scoffed and Emma saw a flash of… jealousy? But it was replaced with the no nonsense look the Mayor got whenever Henry was in danger. "Very well then, if you're done socializing, shall we head to my office?"

Emma didn't bother correcting Regina, it wasn't worth it. She nodded and gestured towards the door, "After you." Regina walked out and Emma turned to follow, waving to Faith and mouthing a "See you later."

After Regina and Emma left, Faith waved Ruby over. "So… What's with them?"

"Who?" Faith gestured to the door "Ohh, Emma and Regina? You noticed that, huh?"

"Noticed it? Are there people who don't notice that?"

Ruby laughed, "You have no idea."

"But they aren't together?"

"No. And before you ask, I don't know why. If you're in town for a while, maybe we could try to fix that?" Faith could tell she had been looking for a partner in crime who would help get the two together.

"Get E together with the gorgeous brunette she has insane chemistry with?" Ruby nodded excitedly. "Count me in."

Regina barely waited until the door was shut before questioning Emma, "So how well do you know this…"

"Faith. I know her well enough to trust her."

"How do you know she isn't lying? Your" Regina put up air quotes, "'lie detector' isn't exactly reliable."

"Regina, there are several people that I know with absolute certainty if they're lying. You're one of them and so is she. At one point, she was the only family I had. She taught me how to fend for myself, how to stand up to myself. So yes, even though I'm pissed at her for leaving, and I don't trust her not to just do it again, I know she's not lying to me."

"Very well then. How did she get here? Why is she here? Is m- our son safe?"

"She has an amulet that a witch friend of hers gave her. All she said was that she's here for work, she didn't want to tell me in the diner, we're meeting for drinks later." There it was again, a small flash of jealousy, "Henry is as safe as he was before Faith rolled into town. Remember, we've still got three people missing." The look on Regina's face told Emma that while she meant that as some sort of comfort, it wasn't taken as such, and she put her hand on Regina's arm. "You know he'll end up in trouble more than a few times, he's the son of the Savior and the 'Evil Queen,' but he'll always have us." Emma smiled and tacked on, "We'll always find him," causing Regina to roll her eyes.

Neither woman spoke for a minute after that, although it felt like much longer, because at some point during their talk, Emma's hand had gone from Regina's arm, to her hand, grasping it in a delicate hold.

"Regina…"

The two women were interrupted by a knock on the door, "Madame Mayor?" They broke apart and Regina gave Emma a look that said they were done talking. Emma headed out, leaving Regina to deal with whatever Mayoral duty her secretary interrupted them with.

Faith was waiting at the counter talking to Ruby when Emma came into the diner a little after 6:00. Her interaction with Regina had distracted her from the mountain of paperwork on her desk, and she decided to leave the less urgent stuff for another day and meet Faith early.

"E! Ruby was just telling me about when you first got here. Town sign, eh?"

Emma shook her head at the big smile on Faith's face, "Ruby, do you have to tell everyone that story?"

Ruby shrugged, "It was one of the more exciting things to happen around here for years! I saved some of the best ones for you to tell though, I'm outta here. You've got someone to cover for tonight, right?"

"Yes, you're covered. Have fun!"

"Thanks Emma. Have a good night you two, don't do anything I would do." Ruby winked at Emma and Faith, then headed into the back to get ready to leave.

"Wait a minute, she works with you too?"

"She rotates being on call at night, tonight is one of her usual nights, but she had something to do, hence the coverage."

"I guess even a small town like this needs the police available at all times."

Emma nodded, "Sometimes we can use it. Even small towns have some kids that like to cause trouble."

Faith shifted in her seat, "About that… The trouble, not the kids, can we get that talk? I got a room so we can actually have some privacy." She looked at Emma suggestively, who hit her on the shoulder.

"I was going to suggest that, my roommates aren't exactly great with the privacy. Is this talk going to require booze? Cause I'm still on duty…"

Faith smiled, "Only a little for old time's sake, I actually have something I want to do tonight."

The two women headed to Faith's room, getting the attention of a few of Storybrooke's more nosy residents. Emma didn't think Faith noticed until they got to the room.

"Damn, do people have nothing better to do than to look for anything that would make for some juicy gossip?" Faith locked the door behind them, and went to sit on the bed, offering Emma the chair.

"Well Sydney, for some reason, still reports to Regina. He probably thinks he's bringing her something good and juicy." Faith raised her eyebrow at the mention of Regina, but it went unnoticed.

"Speaking of good and juicy, do you want to go first, or shall I?" Faith grabbed two beers from the mini fridge and handed one to Emma.

"Thanks." She paused to pop the top off and took a drink, "You promised answers and I think I want, no, I need them before I explain anything."

"Fair enough." Faith paused, trying to figure out where to start. "Do I even have to ask that we keep this between us? A lot of what I have to tell you involves the people I love, my family."

"No you don't have to ask, but I don't blame you for doing so. I'll keep whatever secrets you need. I'm not my mother."

"Wait, what? You found your mom?!" Emma put up a hand to stop Faith, "Right, my story first. Well, I believe the first thing you wanted to know was why I broke out, and then how am I managing to stay out, right?"

Emma nodded and Faith took a deep breath, ready to launch into an explanation, when her phone went off. "Shit, I gotta get that." When Faith pulled out her phone, Emma couldn't see who it was, but did see a picture of an attractive blonde.

"Hey sweetie." Faith got off the bed and walked to the other side of the room. "I got here around noon, I'm sorry I didn't call earlier. No, I'm not sure what's goin' on yet. I ran into an old friend, she's the sheriff so she can help out. Yes. I'm sure. I gotta go. You and the little one keep safe okay? No work, the others can take care of it. I'll call you tomorrow. Love you." She hung up the phone and turned her attention back to Emma, who had crossed her arms and looking at her funny. "What?"

"Sweetie? The little one? You have a kid?" Emma shook her head in disbelief "You've changed. No more 'Want, Take, Have?'"

Faith ignored Emma's gibe about the use of a pet name, "I don't have a kid yet, it's still a little bun in the oven." At the look on Emma's face, Faith added, "We don't want to know if it's a boy or a girl yet, we want to be surprised. Although we're both pretty sure it's a girl. And there's plenty of 'Want, Take, Have'" Faith wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

Emma rolled her eyes but got up and pulled Faith into a congratulatory hug, "Congrats, Faith. You and the wife are in for a treat." At Faith's confused look, "Come on, you're wearing a ring and unless I missed something, that was definitely not a man you were talking to. Give me some credit."

"Thanks E. Now, where was I? Right, breaking out of prison. That story is a long one, so get comfy. It starts back in Boston, about 6 months or so before I left."

Emma interrupted her, "Am I finally going to hear why you were acting weird?"

Faith nodded, "Yes, now don't interrupt, otherwise I'm never going to finish this story. There's no good way to say this, so I'll just say it. I'm a Vampire Slayer."

"A WHAT?!"

"A Vampire Slayer. 'Into every generation there is a chosen one…blah blah blah, I should have brought Giles along, he loves to do this part. This world has vampires, demons, and all sorts of other nasty creatures, my job is to kill them. The Slayer is always a woman, usually called in her teens. My case was unique because there was already a Slayer, Buffy, when I was called. Buffy died and activated a new Slayer, even though she was only dead a minute or so. When that Slayer died, I was called and started slaying in Boston. That's why I insisted on you either staying inside or with groups at night and why I disappeared overnight and showed up the next morning with bruises or cuts. It's also why I heal fast. I know you noticed that. I pretty much got the job done, until one vampire, Kakistos. He killed my Watcher, the guy who trained me, then went after me.."

"Seriously?! Vampires? Are you insane?! Vampires aren't real!"

"What did I say about interrupting? Yes, they are real, and no, I'm not insane." Emma didn't look convinced, but didn't say anything, "Okay so, I was able to wound him, but ended up running. All the way to Sunnydale, California to Buffy…"

"Wait. Sunnydale? That's the town that got sucked into that huge hole like 7 years ago!"

"Yeah… That was a rough day."

"What do you mean? Were you there?! I heard the town was evacuated, that it was some giant sinkhole or something."

"Yes, I was there, so was B and a bunch of other Slayers and friends. You're kinda jumpin' ahead here, E. But yes, the town was evacuated before it collapsed. It wasn't just a sinkhole, there was more of a supernatural reason behind it. Play your cards right and I'll introduce you to the vamp who helped it come about. Or the witch."

Emma couldn't believe what she was hearing. Of all the things she was expecting to hear Faith say, this wasn't even near the list. She stopped herself from interrupting again.

"When I first came to Sunnydale, I teamed up with Buffy and killed Kakistos. We worked together for a while, developed kind of a thing, but there was an accident and we had a slight… falling out... I started working for the Mayor, who was evil." Emma laughed and Faith raised an eyebrow in question.

"I'll explain later, keep going."

"Buffy and I fought right before the Mayor was going to pull off this really killer ascension thing, where he was going to become a demon. She stabbed me and I ended up in a coma. Fast forward 8 months, I wake up, terrorize Buffy and her friends, flee to LA, terrorize some more people, and eventually get arrested. I spent a few years in jail, but broke out when I had to help save a friend. After that, I was brought back to Sunnydale to help them with the big bad, and that's when the town collapsed. We also activated all the potential Slayers, basically anyone who could be a Slayer, became one. Since then, we've set up a pretty solid organization, it's like Slayer's Inc. We find Slayers, train them, then put them in places where they're needed. They've got all the support and training that those in the past couldn't get. Oh, and my record _should_ have been erased, so as far as the system is concerned, I'm a model citizen." Faith stopped for a minute to take a long drink and gauge Emma's reaction. Emma was wide-eyed, but hadn't ran yet, which Faith took as a good sign. A few minutes went by in silence while Emma processed what Faith said.

When she finally spoke, she took Faith by surprise by asking, "So why are you here? Is there a Slayer here or something?"

"No, actually that would be a lot easier than whatever is going on here. See, Sunnydale was on what we call a Hellmouth. It's basically a demonic hotspot, it attracts vampires and demons and also can act as a portal. If a Hellmouth opens, you're looking at world ending catastrophe. They're all over the place, Cleveland, is one. We decided to base our operation there because it was the next biggest Hellmouth. We find them by reading mystical energy, we can figure out size and if it's about ready to blow. Willow, the witch, has been noticing magic coming from this spot. She didn't think much of it, she thought it was just a coven that liked to gather in the woods here. Until she picked up on a few energy bursts, a big one a few months ago, then some little ones. We decided to send someone to check out the area after she tracked 2 big bursts within weeks of each other. We wanted to make sure we didn't have something serious, like an active Hellmouth, on our hands."

Emma's mouth was hanging open in shock, "Oh my god."

"What? Too much? I'm not crazy, I swear."

"No, it's not that. I know what those energy bursts are."

"Well that makes my job a hell of a lot easier. What were they?"

Emma shuffled a little, she still had trouble believing all of the fairytale stuff. "They were the curse, or curses."

"I'm sorry, what? A curse?"

Emma sighed, "This town didn't exist 30 years ago, it was created by a curse."

"You're serious? You're not screwing with me because of what I just told you?"

"I wish I was, it gets crazier. I have a book that explains it a lot better than I can, I can show it to you tomorrow. The first burst of energy your witch friend tracked was the curse being broken. The second big burst was the town being cursed again and disappearing, then the last one was the town returning."

"Who cast the curse? How did it break?"

"Regina did. Or as she was known at the time, 'The Evil Queen'"

It was Faith's turn to interrupt. "This isn't the same Regina who runs the town is it?"

"One and the same, that's why I laughed about your evil mayor. The curse took away people's happy endings and made it so nobody aged."

"Happy endings? The Evil Queen? Who are these people? Where are they from?"

"They're fairy tale characters, or I guess more accurately, story book characters. Fairytales are real."

"Wait, so like Snow White, Prince Charming, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella? All real? And human?"

Emma laughed, "Snow and Charming are actually my parents."

Faith was grateful that she had put her beer down earlier, she most certainly would have dropped it, "WHAT?!"

"Yep, they sent me away in a magical wardrobe to protect me from the curse. Pinocchio was supposed to keep me safe but he left me alone." Emma explained all the details of the curse, from Rumpelstiltskin's prophecy to hers and Henry's role in it. Faith let her continue uninterrupted for the most part. The two ended up talking all night, mostly about the time in between Emma's arrival in Storybrooke and the curse breaking, but Emma did make time to tell Faith about the three missing residents. The two didn't stop talking until Emma had to leave to go to work.

"You won't tell anyone about me being a Slayer, right? It's supposed to be a secret."

"As long as you don't go telling everyone you know where Snow White and her seven dwarves live."

"Deal. And don't think we're done talking, you still haven't told me everything. See you later."

With a quick, "Bye" Emma left the room and headed to the Sheriff's office, leaving Faith to her own devices.

After Emma left, Faith crashed, waking up around noon. She made a quick phone call to the gang and headed down to the diner, where she spent her afternoon with Ruby. Ruby was an excellent source of information and Faith really did want to have some fun with Emma and Regina.

"We need to talk to Henry, they're his moms and he'd get a kick out of helping. I think."

Faith hesitated, "You better handle that one. I want to meet Henry when Emma wants to introduce us. And possibly after she speaks to Regina. Wouldn't want to start an argument."

"Actually..."

"What?"

"That wouldn't be too awful... I mean, you've seen them argue.. You know what they say…"

"There's a fine line between love and hate. Believe me, I know. Remind me to tell you how my wife and I got together. Is that going to be our genius plan then? Get them fighting until they screw?"

"What's our other option? Oh wait, hold on." Ruby was being flagged down by several customers. She was easily distracted on a good day, and they were already down a waitress, so the customers were slightly impatient.

When she returned, Faith answered her. "We could get them talking instead of arguing. You take Emma and I'll take Regina, we can put the idea in their heads somehow."

"Why don't you take Emma? You've known her longer? "

"Do you want to threaten Regina?" Ruby shook her head furiously "Ok then, that's sorted out. What did happen between them? Emma won't tell me, just that Regina had to send her and Henry away so that they wouldn't be cursed. But it seemed like that wasn't the whole story..."

"All I know is that they had a rather intimate moment while Regina was telling her that she was giving her good memories. I swear, I thought they were going to kiss! They did hug though. Emma drove off with Henry, then the curse hit us, taking us back. The second we got to the Enchanted Forest, Regina started working on a way to restore their memories and get back to Storybrooke. I don't think she slept." Ruby thought back to the few times she walked in on Regina working. She wasn't sure that Regina even realized Ruby had entered the room, Regina was so focused on her work. She kept saying things like, "I have to find it, I have to restore their memories."

"I still don't know how we got re-cursed, but when we did, Regina found a way to get the potions to Emma and Henry and bring them back. They've been weird since."

"Weird how?"

Ruby shrugged, "Kinda like something happened that they're trying to ignore."

"Maybe we don't have as much work as we thought"


	2. Chapter 2

Just like the day before, Emma met Faith around 6, they got some food, then went to Faith's room to talk.

"Don't you have a family to go home to? Aren't they wondering where you are?"

"No. I mean, Henry is at Regina's this week, and Mary Margaret and David usually take advantage of me not being home." Emma made a face, "We really need to work on some kind of signal, walking in on them all the time is not okay." Faith laughed and Emma hit her with a pillow, "Not funny!"

"It is and you know it! You could just learn to knock…"

Emma was in the middle of telling Faith more about Neverland when her phone rang. It was well past midnight, which meant that it wasn't anything good. It was David calling her, making it that much worse. "David? Is Henry okay? What about Mary Margaret? Regina?" _Yes, they're fine. There is a problem though._"What? What's going on?" _I found a body in the cemetery._Emma jumped into gear, getting ready to leave "A body?! Whose? How did they die?" _I'm not a coroner, Emma, you better get here, it's by the Mills crypt. And call Whale._Emma ended the call and immediately started dialing Dr. Whale's number, talking to Faith while she waited for him to pick up. "Listen, I'm sorry, I have to go, it looks like we've found one of the missing residents." Whale's voicemail came on, and Emma waited for the beep, "I know it's late, but we need you, a body was found in the cemetery by the Mills crypt. You remember which one that is, don't you?"

"I'm going with you." Faith cut off Emma's objection, "That's why I'm here, to help you figure out what's going on here."

"But it's late—"

"You do remember that I told you I spent more of my time than I'd like to admit in graveyards patrolling for vampires, right? I think I can handle it."

The two women made a beeline for the cruiser, making it to the cemetery in just a few minutes. Emma took the lead, heading for the Mills crypt. When they got there they found the body, but not David. Emma went looking for him, leaving Faith to look at the body. It didn't take long for Faith to figure out the cause of death; she noticed the neck wound right away. "Fuck. Do these things follow me? I don't even have a stake!" Faith was about to go in search of a tree branch when Emma yelled out.

"Faith! Come here and help me!" Faith went sprinting towards the voice, finding Emma and an unconscious David several yards away, near another crypt. David's gun was laying right next to his right hand, his cell phone next to his left. David had just been about to call Emma when he was attacked.

"Is he okay? I can't wake him up!"

Faith pulled a small package out of her pocket, held it up to David's nose, and crushed it. His eyes opened almost immediately and he started to get up, but both Faith and Emma stopped him. "Whoa there, just hold on a second, okay? You were unconscious, it looks like you were attacked. Take your time." David looked around, getting his bearings. He settled on the unfamiliar face next to him, giving him instructions.

"Who are you?"

"Name's Faith, nice to meet you." She took his hand and shook it, a normally uncharacteristic move, but from what Emma told her about David, he would appreciate it.

He turned his attention to Emma, "You called her, didn't you?"

She shrugged and gave him an apologetic look, "Sorry, she would kill me if I didn't call her first, you know that. Do you think you can sit up?" David nodded and sat up very slowly. "Did you see what happened?"

"Well, I found the body and called you. Then I took a look around, I wanted to clear the area before you got here. I heard a noise and when I walked over here I found a wolf. The next thing I remember is waking up."

"The wolf wasn't…." Emma gave him a meaningful look.

"What? Oh. No, I didn't recognize it"

Faith interrupted them, "This may seem odd, but you didn't get bit or anything did you? It would help us narrow down what happened."

"Nope, just feels like I'll have a hell of a bump on the head tomorrow."

Faith left the two alone and went to take pictures of the body. The mark on his neck was unusual, it was just two simple holes, not the mess that generally went with vampire bites. She had a theory about why that was, but she wanted to confirm it before alarming Emma and the other Storybrooke residents. She sent the pictures to the gang, hoping someone would be awake to answer.

While they were waiting for Whale, Mary Margaret showed up to take David to the hospital. David, who on any other day might argue, barely put up a fight and let her rip into him about going off on his own. Faith and Emma canvassed the area around the body and where David was found, just to see if they could find anything.

Whale appeared an hour later with his medical kit. Faith and Emma hadn't found anything in the surrounding area, not that they were really expecting to. "Apologies everyone, I was sleeping. Where is the body?"

They walked him over to the body and he stopped dead in his tracks when he got a clear look. "Oh god no."

"What? Did you know him?"

"The victim? No. But I think I know who the perpetrator is."

Faith's phone chimed and she pulled it out to look at it, while Emma gestured impatiently at Whale, "Spit it out, Whale, who is it?"

He opened his mouth to answer, but Faith beat him to it, "It's Dracula."

Emma started to laugh, but seeing the serious looks on both their faces cut her off quickly. "You're serious? He's real? How the fuck did he get here?!"

"That is a question for The Evil Queen." Emma glared at him and he didn't say another word, just processed the body and got it to the morgue.

Mary Margaret identified the body, he was one of the Art teachers at the school. As far as she knew, he was married, but didn't have any children. Emma turned down offers from both Faith and Mary Margaret to help notify his wife. As Sheriff, it was her responsibility, as much as it sucked. After the notification, Emma headed straight to the station to try to find answers, it wasn't even time for her shift yet and she had worked almost 8 hours. One of the first things Emma did when she got there was call Regina to let her know what had happened and give her more information about Faith.

Faith headed back to Granny's to get some sleep in, turning her phone down so she wouldn't be interrupted. When she woke up several hours later, she had a dozen texts and phone calls from Buffy, who had freaked out when she found out that Faith was dealing with Dracula. He was the only vampire that got the best of Buffy and lived to tell about it, so naturally, Buffy was worried. The last text she received was, "_FAITH! IF YOU DO NOT CALL ME NOW AND TELL ME WHAT'S GOING ON I WILL NAME OUR CHILD AFTER ANGEL!"_

Faith laughed and called Buffy, reassuring her that she was okay and reminding her that naming their child after Angel wouldn't be so terrible. They discussed the Dracula situation and came up with a partial plan, but it required a conversation with Regina. After she hung up, she started getting herself ready and headed to the Mayor's office.

It was around 10 that morning when Emma received a report that another resident went missing, and this time it was a dwarf. Which meant that Snow and the other six dwarves were on Emma all day looking for answers. After the fifth phone call from her mother, she snapped. "I CANNOT DO MY JOB IF I HAVE PEOPLE CONSTANTLY INTERRUPTING ME!"

"Whoa, you okay, Emma?"

"I'm fine, Ruby. What can I help you with?"

"Well, I came with bear claws. Granny gave me the afternoon off so I can help you. I imagine with three people missing, one of them being Happy, and one person dead, you could use it. Where's David?"

"He's at home with Mary Margaret. He had a minor concussion from last night, so I told him to stay home."

"Gotcha. So how can I help?"

"I don't even know what I'm looking for. I've been reviewing the missing person's reports and the only consistency is that they went missing after the sun went down. David mentioned seeing a wolf last night, you didn't see anything did you?"

"Nope, just me. I can go sniff around the crime scene if you'd like? Where's Faith? Isn't this her thing?"

"I thought Faith was in her room, she told me she wanted to get some sleep, you didn't see her?"

"Well I did, I saw her leave right before I came here, I figured she was just heading here. What is she, by the way? She didn't tell me."

"What do you mean, what is she?"

Ruby put her hand on her hip, "Emma, I'm not stupid. She smells funny, like she's not quite human. But she doesn't smell like Archie or the other wolves I've run across when they're in human form, it's just a slight difference. Like Regina, I can sometimes smell the magic on her. So what is she?"

Emma sighed, and took her time answering, "She's a Slayer."

"A what?"

"A Slayer. A Vampire Slayer. Apparently, vampires and demons are real and she kills them."

"Oh. Well that explains it. She's cool with wolves though, right?"

"You'd have to ask her, but I'm sure you're okay, she works with a couple of vampires, they have souls."

"That's so cool!"

"You have to keep it to yourself, Ruby, people aren't really supposed to know."

"Don't tell your mom then, I love her, but she cannot keep a secret."

"Believe me, I know. I've heard enough from Regina about her secret keeping."

Ruby smiled at the mention of Regina, "Speaking of Regina, what's going on with you two? Did you sleep together and it was awful or something?"

"Ruby!" Emma halfheartedly threw a pencil at her, which Ruby dodged easily. "What makes you think something happened?"

"Because I pay more attention than you think. I know you have a thing for her." Ruby almost added, 'I know she has a thing for you.' but thought better of it. "I know that she went and got you and Henry and since you came back to Storybrooke, you and Regina have been acting weird. More so than usual. So spill, what's going on?"

"You're not going to let this go, are you?"

Ruby shook her head, "Nope."

"Do you remember that day Henry and I left to go to New York?" Ruby nodded excitedly, "Did you happen to hear what Regina said to me?"

"No, there was too much noise from the curse."

"Well, when we hugged, she told me that she loved me."

Ruby squealed, "Oh my god! What did you say?!"

"I didn't say anything. I was too shocked and there was a lot happening. The second we crossed the line, I forgot it."

"So what happened when Regina went to New York to get you?"

"She showed up at our door and gave us the potions. I think when she gave us the new memories she tried to insert herself, so that if and when you all made it back, she could get Henry and I. When we took the potions, everything came back at once, it was really overwhelming."

"Did you tell her you love her?"

Emma got a guilty look on her face, "No. I haven't brought it up."

Ruby reached over and smacked Emma, "Are you kidding me?! You've had a thing for her since

you got to this town! Why didn't you tell her?!"

"I don't know."

"You're killin' me, Swan! You have to tell her!"

"I will, when the time is right. Now can we get to work?"

"Madame Mayor? Your 2:00 is here."

"I didn't have one on the books."

"It's a Miss Lehane, she says she has an important matter to discuss?"

Regina didn't recognize the name, but had an idea as to who it was, "Very well, send her in." Regina straightened her desk and her posture, so when the door opened, Faith knew she was not to be messed with.

"How can I help you, Miss Lehane?" Regina stood up, to shake Faith's hand.

"First off, it's not Miss, I'm married. Secondly, I came by to ask about the curse."

"Which one?"

"As I understood it, you only cast one, the original that brought everyone here and created Storybrooke."

"Your question?"

"How did you decide who to bring over? And if there was someone from one of the realms who wasn't in the original curse, but was in town for Pan's, could they have been cursed back to their realm, then brought to Storybrooke?" Regina was taken aback by the question. While it wasn't the first time people had wondered about who came to Storybrooke, nobody had asked like that.

"Well I supposed it's possible. Does this have something to do with the missing residents?"

"Yeah, tryin' to figure out who took them. How many people from Whale's realm did you bring?"

"Just one. Him."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I am 100% certain he was the only one from his realm who came here when I cast it."

"If someone isn't from this world, but one of the realms that were cursed, even if they weren't in any of the curses, could they still get past the barrier?"

"If they managed to find a way to this world without any problems, I don't see how much trouble the barrier would cause. But, the barrier keeps us in, so it should keep people out, even if they're from another realm. Although, the barrier was down for a few days when we were in Neverland."

Faith contemplated Regina's answers for a minute, then got up to leave. "Thank you for your help."

"Help with what? Are you working in the Sheriff's office now?"

"Nope, investigating as a private entity. Thank you for taking time out of your schedule to see me."

"It's hard not to when you put yourself on my schedule."

Faith was just at the door when she turned back around to add, "Oh, and by the way... If you hurt E, I will make you wish you were imprisoned back in the Enchanted Forest. Have a nice day." After the door shut, Faith smiled at Regina's shocked expression. _You still got it, Lehane_.

The minute Faith got outside, she called Willow and told her what Regina said. Willow helped her figure out a few critical steps, then she hung up and headed back to her room to call Emma.

"I have some information that may help and a possible plan. Can you come meet me?" Emma was there half an hour later.

Faith told her what she was thinking and Emma hesitated, "I don't know, shouldn't you take the lead on this?"

"Normally, I would say yeah, but in a town like this? They don't trust the outsider, but they will trust the Savior." Emma glared at her, but she shrugged, "I'll be with you every step of the way, okay? It's not like I'm leaving you alone to fight your first vampire."

"Okay. If you're sure this will work."

"It won't hurt... I'm assuming you have people to gather?" Emma nodded and pulled out her phone to start dialing.

They decided to meet at the Sheriff's office, that way Emma didn't have to worry about the office being manned, and all the case resources where there. Regina was the first to arrive and she magicked a conference table for everyone to sit at.

Within half an hour everyone had arrived, with the exception of the Blue Fairy, but Emma was okay with starting without her. She had asked her parents, Regina, Ruby, Granny, Archie, Tinker Bell, and Grumpy, in addition to Blue. As expected, Grumpy was… well... grumpy to discover that Faith had been invited to the meeting.

"We don't know her. How do we know she isn't the one kidnapping people?!"

"I'm a Slayer—"

Grumpy cut Faith off, "What the hell is a Slayer?"

"It means she's the expert, she's been doing this a lot longer than you have, so shut up and listen!"

Grumpy opened up his mouth to argue more, but glares from around the table stopped him.

Faith and Emma took turns explaining the situation, with Faith trying to let Emma take the lead. "Okay, so I know that some of you know what's going on, or at least pieces of it. This will be a lot to take in, so please wait until we're done explaining to ask any questions. As you know, we've had some disappearances, and at least one murder. Faith figured out who the perpetrator was when we found the body. As crazy as it sounds, it's Dracula and he may or may not be recruiting, since we haven't found any other bodies." There were murmurs around the table, and they thought they heard David say something about "The Dark Prince," but nobody interrupted.

"Vampires can be killed in several different ways; beheading, a stake to the heart, holy water, fire, and sunlight. They're stronger and faster than the average person, with heightened senses. You can ward them off with garlic or a cross, but depending on how strong they are, it may not work. The thing about invitations is true, they can't come in your home unless you invite them. But, they aren't restricted in a public place, they can come and go as they please. They can also enter a home if the owner is dead. We know this attack was Dracula because of the bite marks. He leaves two simple puncture wounds, most other vampires leave more. Finding Dracula is going to be pretty easy, he's kind of a show off and goes for a big castle, or castle like mansion. We think he actually is able to create one, or it somehow travels with him. He can shapeshift into a bat or a wolf, and will use that to stalk his victims or enemies. Lastly, he can put people under a thrall, so be careful. It's a good idea to travel in groups."

"I know that was a lot of information, but really, if you've ever seen a Dracula movie, it should all be familiar. Are there any questions?" Emma and Faith sat down, letting everyone absorb what they had told them.

Grumpy muttered under his breath, "Where's Van Helsing when you need him?"

"Here." All eyes went to Faith, who shrugged, "Sorry, I forgot you guys take that a little more seriously. I'm not literally Van Helsing... but what is a Slayer if not a more badass, female Van Helsing? The problem isn't who slays him, the problem is that every time he gets staked, he just comes back. We could try beheading him, but I have a feeling that may have the same result."

"Alright then, Fem Helsing, what is your plan?" Grumpy asked.

"We bind him after we stake him. A friend of mine sent a binding spell, all we would need to do is find a way to contain the dust, and then we can bury him."

Grumpy scoffed, "Who's going to cast the spell? One of the fairies? I noticed that Blue wasn't invited."

Emma interrupted, "She was, she just didn't show up. Which is actually probably something we should look into. Archie, can you check on her?" He nodded. "As for who's going to cast the spell, we were actually thinking Regina could do it. We'd want her there anyway, her magic would help."

"You're going to trust the Evil Queen to take out the vampire she probably brought here?"

Several people jumped up out of their seats, but Snow was the first one to speak, "Enough! Grumpy, I know that your brother is missing and you want to find him, but fighting us isn't the way to do this. Regina has proven that she's on our side, so show her some respect."

Snow's outburst surprised Grumpy, and the rest of the table, enough where the rest of the meeting went fairly smoothly.

The last piece of business was figuring out how to protect people until they could get rid of Dracula and any vampires he could have turned. They decided a town meeting was their best bet, but it was getting late, so it had to wait until the next day. Regina teleported back to the mansion, so she could make sure Henry got home okay and understood the importance of staying inside. Emma asked David, Mary Margaret, Ruby, Tinker Bell, and Faith to patrol overnight. They still had people missing and a vampire to find. She gave them their assignments and they headed out.


	3. Chapter 3

Throughout the next day, they all checked in with Emma. Nobody who was out patrolling had found anything, no vampires, none of the missing residents, no strange mansions, nothing. Archie called her mid-afternoon to let her know that he couldn't find the Blue Fairy, none of the other fairies knew where she went. Emma added Blue's name to the growing number of missing people, hoping that she wouldn't turn up dead, there would be a panic if she did. She was supposed to meet with Regina about the town meeting, but was trying to procrastinate. Emma knew that Regina would be annoyed if she was late, but she wasn't sure how much longer she could go without talking to Regina about what had happened. What Emma didn't know was that a certain Mayor was having similar feelings about their meeting.

A knock on Regina's door interrupted her thoughts. "Yes?" The door opened and Henry came into the office. "Henry!" Regina got up and walked over to Henry to give him a hug. "What are you doing here? I thought you were going with David after school?"

"I was, but he was acting weird. I think I saw him eat a bug. Besides, I wanted to ask you something before you met with Emma."

"Is there something wrong?"

"No, I just wanted to know if we could invite Emma over for dinner after the meeting tonight." Ruby had recruited Henry to help her and Faith get Emma and Regina together. The plan was to get them to spend as much time together as possible, starting with dinner.

Regina wasn't surprised by the request, Henry had asked before and she usually came up with some reason why it wouldn't work. "I don't know, Henry."

"Come on, Mom, please?"

Regina had trouble saying no to Henry since he had returned from New York, "Alright, I'll ask her. But she may have work to do, this is a big case that she's dealing with, it's requiring a lot of her attention."

"Thanks! I'm going to Granny's until the meeting is over." He hugged her and practically ran out of the room.

A few minutes later, her assistant knocked on the door to tell her that Emma had arrived.

"You're late."

"Sorry. Paperwork."

"Does that mean it will actually be on time this month?" Regina gestured to the chair in front of her desk, "Have a seat." Regina waited until Emma was seated to speak again, "What do you suggest we tell people about Dracula?"

"As much of the truth as we can, I don't want to start a panic, or give Whale a reason to get a mob together." They both shuddered at the memory of Whale threatening a powerless Regina. "I think we just tell them that there's a threat and they need to stick to the curfew. Really, most of the people who would give us trouble about it already know what's going on. Without them, there shouldn't be much resistance. Oh. And tell them to use the buddy system."

"What if people do argue? What will we tell them?"

"We tell them there's an unknown threat and that all we know is that people are disappearing after sundown."

"Very well. Will Faith attend the meeting?" Regina thought about asking Emma why Faith felt it necessary to threaten her the day before, but she didn't want to open that door.

"I think she should, don't you?" Regina nodded, "If she doesn't, then people may start to accuse her of being the threat. Most of the people here don't take strangers well."

"Only when they knock down the town sign," Regina said with a smile. She looked at the clock. "We should head over there, people should be arriving soon. By the way, Henry wanted to invite you for dinner afterwards, would you like to join us?" She noticed Emma's hesitation, "I made lasagna, and I promise I won't poison you. Henry would love if you joined us."

"Sure, I'd love to. I haven't seen much of him lately. Thank you." Emma was silent for a couple minutes but then asked, "Would it be alright if Faith came along too? I'd kind of like her to meet Henry, if that's okay with you." It was a sorry excuse to avoid time alone with Regina and Regina noticed.

"If you don't want to come for dinner, you don't have to. Nobody is forcing you." She was upset but trying not to show it.

"I never said that. I just thought it would be nice to invite her. She's helping us out a lot." Emma heard Regina mutter something, but didn't catch it. "What was that?"

"Nothing. Just let her know dinner is at 7. Now excuse me, I have to speak with Sydney." Regina made a beeline for the reporter, leaving Emma standing alone in the hallway, feeling like an ass. However, she still texted Faith to invite her for dinner, and got an immediate "yes" back.

The meeting went as expected, the townspeople accepted the curfew with little argument, putting their faith in Emma and her parents. There were questions about what killed the art teacher, and if they had any leads on the others, but they were able to answer them fairly easily. Nobody stuck around after the meeting, they were all anxious to get home and make sure that their loved ones were safe. Regina left immediately after the meeting was over, making some excuse about starting dinner, and leaving Faith and Emma alone.

"What the hell did you do? She looks upset."

"When she invited me for dinner with her and Henry, I took a minute to answer and I think it hurt her feelings. Then I kinda made it worse when I asked if you could come too."

Faith chuckled, "You've got it bad, E."

"I don't know what you're talking about"

"Yes you do. You have go to talk to her. I don't know what happened with you two, but you have to talk about it."

"There's nothing to talk about."

"Keep telling yourself that and see how you feel. Keep trying to convince yourself that you don't have feelings for her, even though anyone with eyes and half a brain can tell you do." Emma didn't have a response for Faith, because she was right. "I don't know what you're scared of, but get over it before it's too late." Faith started to walk away.

"Wait, where are you going?"

"Gotta make a phone call, I'll meet you at the station. I'm still going to dinner, wanna see what happens."

Emma checked her watch and realized that if she wanted to make it to the mansion before 7, she had to leave. She still had a few things to finish up at the station and had to get her bug.

Emma and Faith made it to the mansion with minutes to spare, it was the first time she had actually been on time for Regina. Although it had a lot to do with Faith standing over her as she worked. Henry didn't wait until they got to the door, he ran out and tackle hugged Emma, which made Faith laugh.

"You must be Henry." He nodded and Faith stuck out her hand, "I'm Faith, it's nice to meet you, I've heard a lot about you."

"Nice to meet you too, I heard you're a superhero!"

Faith looked at Emma, surprised and Emma shrugged, "It wasn't me. I just said you were a friend."

The group made their way into the house, "Aw thanks, E."

"It was Ruby! She told me that you're a superhero and that you kill vampires!"

Regina appeared, "Remind me to talk to Miss Lucas about appropriate conversations with an 11 year old."

"She wouldn't tell me anything else." Henry said, trying to defend Ruby. He turned his attention back to Faith, "Do you have any stories?"

"I've got about 14 years of them, all about vampires, demons, and the world ending." Henry's eyes got big and Regina cleared her throat, "But uh, all age appropriate, very little violence."

They saw the smallest smile from Regina, before she announced dinner was ready. Henry asked Faith question after question about being a Slayer, which she tried to answer with as little cursing and violence as possible. Regina and Emma stayed relatively quiet and kept stealing glances at each other when they thought no one was looking.

"Wife? You're married to a woman?" Henry and Ruby had practiced this, to help show Regina and Emma that he'd be okay with it.

"Henry!"

"Kid!"

Faith laughed, "He didn't say anything wrong, he was just asking. But yes, and that's a good story. We kinda started out as enemies and now we're expecting a kid." She saw a look pass between Regina and Emma and stopped herself from smiling at them.

"That's cool! I love having two moms!" Emma choked on her drink and ended up spilling wine everywhere, earning herself a small glare from Regina. Faith caught Henry's attention and winked. Everyone at the table was silent until they finished eating and they made it to dessert without any issue. Immediately after finishing her pie, Faith excused herself.

"Thanks for dinner, Regina. I gotta get out to patrol with Tink, I don't wanna leave her by herself for too long." She ruffled Henry's hair, "Nice to meet you, kid." Before Emma could get up and use it as a reason to leave, Faith stopped her, "I can walk, I've been in more dangerous situations. Besides, I need the exercise after all that good food. I'll text you if I find anything. See ya later, E."

"See ya." Emma checked her watch, "Hey Henry, it looks like it's almost bed time, maybe you should go get ready."

"Aw man, I wanna stay up." He looked between his two mothers, trying to figure out who would break sooner. Ever since they got their new memories, Emma was stricter with bed times and the like.

"Emma told you to get ready for bed, maybe you'll be able to stay up and read with one of us a bit, how's that?" Henry realized he was beat and slowly went upstairs.

Emma stood up and started clearing the table, "Thanks for inviting me to dinner." She almost dropped a glass, causing Regina to jump up and start taking plates from her.

"I've got this." Regina took the plates into the kitchen, and Emma followed.

"Is there anything I can help with?" She picked up a towel, "I can dry. Without dropping anything." Regina looked at her skeptically and Emma amended, "I can _try_ not to drop anything." Regina brought the rest of the dishes into the kitchen and started washing, letting Emma dry. "Hey Regina?"

"Yes?"

"Can we talk?"

"Is that not what we're doing?"

"You know what I mean."

A loud thud announced Henry's arrival back downstairs and seconds later he was in the kitchen. Emma cursed inwardly at her son's terrible timing. She lost her nerve by the time Henry was settled in bed.

Emma and Regina went into the sitting room. Regina offered her a glass of cider, but she declined. "You wanted to talk?"

"Oh. Um." Emma was trying to think of something to bring up, but her mind had gone blank. Regina looked at her expectantly. Finally, she thought of something. "How's Henry doing with the death of that teacher?"

"He's coping. He never had him, but he knows some people who did, so he's been helping them talk through it."

Emma smiled, "That sounds like him. How has he been doing since we got back?"

"As fine as he can be with two sets of memories. You do know he can stay with you, right?"

"I know. I wanted you to have him for a bit. You didn't get him much after the curse broke, I'm sorry about that by the way."

"Thank you." Regina sipped her cider, contemplating on asking Emma what it was that she wanted to talk about. Even though she already had an idea. "So how did you meet Faith?"

Emma shifted in her seat, this was almost as uncomfortable as talking about her feelings for Regina. "We were both in the system in Boston, we were both in some crappy homes. She taught me how to read people, how to survive on the streets, how to defend myself. I owe a lot to her. She was my best friend, until she left." Emma trailed off, leaving a lot up in the air.

Regina didn't know what to say, Emma didn't talk about her life in the system. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be, I turned out okay, didn't I?" Emma checked her watch and noticed it was around 11, a reasonable time to leave and not be weird. "I should go, it's getting late and I want to get to the station early tomorrow. Thank you again. Have a good night, Regina."

"Goodnight, Emma."


	4. Chapter 4

Over the next couple of days, there were no new missing people, no new bodies, and no sign of Dracula. Faith, Ruby, and Henry kept trying to find ways to get Emma and Regina together, but were largely unsuccessful as Emma and Regina had caught on. Emma and Regina had made an effort to not be alone together, because whenever they were, Emma would ask to talk and then lose her nerve.

They finally found a break in the case when David found Dracula's castle. He had been acting increasingly weird and Faith had a feeling that he was under Dracula's thrall, but she kept it to herself. It didn't matter how they got to Dracula, as long as it happened.

When David came into the room with his scabbard on his side, Emma lost it. "Again with the sword?! Why do you even bother carrying a gun? You're not in the Enchanted Forest anymore, David!"

Before David could respond, Faith interjected, "Actually... A sword would be helpful, you can decapitate vampires, you know…" A look from Emma stopped her from talking.

Emma walked over to Regina, who was obsessively checking to make sure she had everything. "Are you okay?"

"What? Yes, of course. This binding spell should be simple."

"Then why do you look like you're about to pass out?"

"Because if I do this wrong, I could jeopardize the safety of the entire town."

Emma put a hand on Regina's arm, "You're not going to do it wrong, and I'm here to help if you need me." Regina looked at Emma's hand and then around the room to see if anyone saw the gesture. Emma got the hint and removed her hand, "Can we talk? After, I mean.

Regina looked around the room again and raised her eyebrow, "How many times are you going to ask?"

Before Emma could answer, they were interrupted, this time it was courtesy of Faith, "Alright everyone, are we ready to go? Does everyone know what they're doing?" Nods from around the room, "Just remember, in the heart, a stake anywhere else doesn't do any good."

The group, consisting of Emma, Regina, Faith, Ruby, Snow, and David, headed out and piled into the cruisers. Dracula's castle was out in the middle of the woods, which was part of why it took them days to find it.

In an effort to break the silence, Ruby started asking questions, "Why are we going after a vampire at night? Shouldn't we be doing this during the day time when he's sleeping?"

"Because we want to see if there's anyone alive to rescue."

The ride carried on like that for the next 15 minutes, until they reached a spot near the woods where they could park the cars and still stay hidden. The group gathered their weapons and headed onto the grounds. Ruby stayed back several yards so that she could act as lookout.

David was acting stranger by the second and it was his shiftiness that alerted the group to Dracula's presence. Somehow the vampire had gotten past Ruby and appeared somewhere behind Faith, who turned to face him.

"Slayer."

"Hey Drac, how's it goin'?"

He looked just like the gang had described him, long dark hair, heavy accent, scary fingernails. She almost laughed. Almost. Faith pulled out a stake, "I believe you know Mr. Pointy?"

He stared her down, looking right into her eyes, "You're not going to use that."

She lowered the arm with the stakes and her eyelids started to droop. "You're going to give me a taste." He started to get closer, but Faith punched him hard, stunning the vampire.

"How..."

"Buffy warned me about that years ago. She knew there was a chance of running into you. You're not going to use your stupid thrall shit on me, because it's not going to work. You're also not going to get into my head by calling me a killer like you did with her. I faced those demons years ago. What you will do, is die nice for me."

She lunged with the stake and he turned into a bat.

"Fuck!"

Nobody could see where he went.

"What the hell just happened?!" No matter how many times Emma had seen something magical happen, her first reaction was to question it.

"What do we do now?"

Faith chuckled, "Do you not remember me telling you that he can turn into a bat? He probably went inside, which means we have to go after him."

"You're joking?"

"You know I'm not, we can leave this until tomorrow, but we risk someone else dying."

"Are we just supposed to knock on the door and request that he let us in?"

"Says the woman who could get in without any problem. Poof and you're there."

"We can't send Regina in alone."

"We could go in the back way?" Ruby suggested, appearing from behind a cluster of trees. "Regina can poof in, then we can go in another way, she can hold her own against him until we get there."

"It's up to her, but I don't think we should send her in by herself." Emma looked to Regina, with the rest of the group following suit.

Regina sighed, "As long as you idiots can make it in there in a timely fashion. I have no interest in becoming a vampire."

Faith had been silent through the exchange, she knew she had to go in no matter what, they just needed to sort out who followed. "You know that he's expecting us right? That he has the advantage?" A collective nod, "Okay, just so you know what you're getting into. I'm not leading an unsuspecting group of people into an ambush. Ruby, take Emma, David, and Snow through to whatever path you found. I'm going a more direct route, once I see that Regina has gotten in. You have 15 minutes before she goes in, try to get upstairs into a room with a window. Text me when you're in. Is everyone good with that?" Another nod. "Alright, let's try this again."

The group headed off towards the castle, Ruby in the lead and David bringing up the rear. Faith watched them until they were out of sight, then turned to Regina.

"Are you sure you're okay with doing this? It may surprise him, but you could get hurt."

"I'm very aware of the consequences, thank you."

The pair walked the perimeter of the castle, trying to find a good spot for Faith to break in. When she found it, they settled in and waited. 10 minutes later, Faith received at text from Emma that they found a way in. She nodded to Regina, who gathered herself and disappeared into a cloud of purple smoke. Faith texted Emma back that Regina was in and told her which direction, then peered into the window. Regina looked to be alone, but she knew that could change any minute. Faith could see Regina getting impatient and was praying that she wouldn't wander off. Regina started setting up for the binding spell in front of one of the large bookcases and Faith saw movement behind her.

"Oh shit!" Faith took several steps back, then ran full force in through the window, breaking through at the same time that Emma and the others came into the room and Dracula grabbed Regina.

Emma yelled out and started to run towards her, but was held back by David.

"You're not going to hurt the Dark Prince."

"Damn it, David! I knew you were under his thrall!" Emma thought she heard her mother mutter, "Men" under her breath before she heard a gasp. Two vampires had appeared in the opposite door.

Snow and Ruby immediately went after the two vampires, wishing they had more room to fight. The last thing they wanted to do was stake the wrong person. Faith watched them for a second, impressed by their skill, before Emma yelled for her.

"Faith! Get him! Get Regina!"

The Slayer took two steps towards Dracula and Regina, before he grabbed her tighter around the next. "One more move Slayer, and she's dead." Faith put up her hands and took a step back, she had to play by his rules for a bit if she was going to get Regina out of there alive.

"What are you doing?! Faith!" Emma broke free from David's grasp and started to run to Regina, but Faith stopped her.

"No!"

"Whose side are you on?!" Emma struggled against Faith, distracting her enough that she didn't hear David come up behind her until it was too late. Faith loosened her grip on Emma, who rushed forward.

"ARGH! Fuck that hurts!" David stabbed Faith in the side with his sword. Emma turned to see Faith go down and David heading towards her. Ruby staked her vampire and came up behind David, knocking him out before he could get to Emma.

"Emma!" They turned their attention back to Regina and Dracula. The vampire smiled at Emma, then lowered his mouth to Regina's neck, biting her.

"Regina!" Emma watched Regina pale and her head slump forward. Dracula stopped biting her and looked up at Emma, licking his lips. He stepped forward with Regina and threw her into Emma's arms. The pair fell back and Snow, who had just staked her vampire, and Ruby advanced onto Dracula. Nobody noticed Faith sneak up behind him until he started to turn into dust.

"That was for Buffy." She looked for Regina and panicked when she saw that Regina wasn't moving. "Shit! E, is she breathing?! Put pressure on the wound!"

Emma was starting to panic, "I don't know! I can't tell! Oh god, Regina!"

Ruby crouched down to feel for a pulse, "It's faint, but it's there. She's lost a lot of blood, I don't think she can do the spell."

"Shit! If we can't bind him, this was all for nothing."

"Can't you do it?"

"No, I don't have the magic."

Emma spoke up, "I can do it." Knowing that Regina was still alive had calmed her enough to get her head together.

"Say what? E, you can do magic?"

"Yeah, a little. It's kinda unstable, I've never really done it by myself, but I can try."

"Okay then, get the spell and get over here, we don't have much time."

Emma took the spell out of Regina's bag and looked over it a few times before standing over the ashes. She read it once, but nothing happened. She tried a second time, her voice was shaking and she was nervous as hell. Right before the third read, she felt something on her leg, but thought nothing of it. Something happened. She felt the magic flow through her and directed it to the ashes. The ashes were bathed in a purple light for a few seconds and when it went out, Faith cheered.

"Way to go, E!" Faith crouched down to collect the ashes into an urn filled with holy water. They were taking no chances.

Emma looked down to see what was on her leg and was surprised to see it was Regina. She had used whatever strength she had to get to Emma. It mirrored the time Regina opened the portal with Jefferson's hat after Emma touched her.

"Regina?" She didn't move and once again, Emma started to panic. "We have to get her out of here!"

Faith looked to Snow, "Can you and Emma get David and Regina to the hospital?" Snow nodded, "We'll meet you there."

Snow revived David, then helped Emma get Regina up. "Do you have her? Good, we have to hurry, I'll call ahead and have them ready." Snow and Emma all but ran out of the castle, leaving Ruby and Faith.

"What about you? You got stabbed! I don't know how you're even standing!"

"Adrenaline, Slayer healing, a history of getting stabbed? Either way, it won't last long, so let's clean house."

Ruby's nose helped them narrow down where there could be more vampires. There were still two people unaccounted for and they didn't need any surprises. When they got to the basement, they found Happy's body. It looked like all the vampires had fed on him and it was a mess.

"Oh no… Happy…" Ruby was sorry to see the dwarf hadn't made it, she liked him. Well, most of the time. "But where's—?" She was cut off by a blow to the head, curtesy of the Blue Fairy, who had been turned. "Oh you're going down, bitch." Ruby growled and went after Blue, dodging most of her attacks. She took another blow to the head and one to the chest before finally staking her. Ruby turned to see Faith standing there laughing with her arms crossed, leaning up against a support beam. "Were you not going to help?"

"Nah, you had it, besides, I can now say I watched Little Red Riding Hood stake the Blue Fairy, or a nun, I haven't decided which on I'm gonna use. They're going to love that at , let's get to the hospital." Faith stumbled up the first couple of steps, and Ruby wrapped an arm around her to help her up the rest. "Thanks."

Emma was grateful that they were in the police cruiser and could hit the lights. Otherwise she would have to arrest Snow for breaking several traffic laws. She was panicking big time, she couldn't feel Regina's pulse and couldn't tell if she was breathing. Emma had called the ER to warn them that they would need a lot of blood for a transfusion. Thankfully, she knew Regina's blood type, A+, and could give them that information.

It took them 10 minutes to get to the hospital, when it should have taken at least 20. When they got there, Emma didn't leave Regina's side until they forced her out of the room. She paced the waiting room and didn't stop until Dr. Whale came out. "How is she doing? Did the transfusion work? Is she going to be okay? Can I see her?"

He put up a hand to stop her, "We had to replace almost her complete blood volume. She's in the ICU right now. It looks like she'll make a full recovery. She's lucky you got here when you did."

"Can I see her?"

Whale hesitated, but relented when he saw Emma's hand go to her holster, he wasn't sure that she realized what she was doing, but he wasn't looking to piss off the Sheriff. "Sure. Through the doors and to the left, room 106."

Emma sprinted down the hall to Regina's room. When she saw Regina in the hospital bed unconscious and hooked up to machines, she lost it and started to cry. Emma pulled a chair up next to the bed and took Regina's hand. "I almost lost you and I didn't even get to tell you." She stayed next to Regina's bed the rest of the night, forcing herself to stay awake so that she would know right away when Regina woke up. Snow, Ruby, and David had all checked in on them. Faith had been admitted under threat of someone telling Buffy that she got stabbed, and was in the room next door.

Regina woke up early in the morning, surprised to see Emma next to her, holding her hand. "Emma?" Her voice was raspy.

"Regina!" Emma yelled and jumped up, disrupting the people around her, including Faith and Ruby, who positioned themselves to listen in on Emma and Regina. "You're alive!" Surprising both of them, Emma kissed Regina. When Emma pulled away, Regina looked confused.

"What was that for?"

"I love you too."

They heard "It's about damn time!" From Ruby next door, but ignored it.

"So you did hear me?" Emma nodded and put her head down on Regina's chest, listening to her heartbeat. Regina put her arms around Emma as best she could.

"I'm sorry I didn't say it sooner. I should have said it in New York."

"Or any of the times since when you asked if we could talk? Am I correct in assuming that was what you wanted to talk about?" Regina felt Emma nod again and kissed the top of her head, "I love you."

Regina heard a mumbled, "I love you too."

"You know, Henry will be thrilled. He's been plotting with Ruby and Faith for days."

"I know. Apparently everyone knew about us except us."

They heard a shriek from the door "Oh my god! Emma!"

"Whooops, not everyone. Sorry mom." Emma turned to see Regina smirking and was sure she knew what Regina was thinking.

"When did this happen?"

"Well, officially? About 10 minutes ago."

Ruby appeared next to Snow, "I can't believe you never noticed that Emma's had the hots for Regina since she got here. I mean, I'm pretty sure David knew."

"David knew what?" David walked up carrying a bunch of snacks and a coffee.

"About Emma having the hots for Regina."

"Yep, noticed it shortly after I woke up from that coma. Not hard to miss. Why are we talking about it?" Snow pointed to the couple on the bed, and David broke into a big smile, "It's about time! I almost put a wager on when you two would get together."

"Why didn't anyone tell me?!" All four people stared at Snow and she waited a beat before following up with, "I know, I suck at keeping secrets."

"Did I fall back asleep? Emma, pinch me, I think I just heard your mother admit that she's a terrible secret keeper." They all laughed and Snow made an effort to look indignant, but it fell flat. "You can come in you know, I'm not diseased, it was just a blood transfusion." Regina just realized who was missing, "Where's Faith? Is she okay?" David got a guilty look on his face and pointed next door, while Ruby answered her question.

"Bug eater here stabbed her good, but she'll be alright. Slayers heal quickly or something."

Regina got a big smile on her face, "Bug eater? You actually ate bugs?" and David nodded. "This is the best day!" They looked at her like she had three heads, "What? Emma told me she loved me, Snow admitted she can't keep a secret, and David ate bugs!" Once again, they couldn't help but laugh.

Regina and Faith were both released from the hospital later that day with clean bills of health. Emma didn't let go of Regina's hand or leave her side unless she absolutely had to. When they got to the mansion and Henry saw them, he cheered and said, "We did it!" Ruby came over and helped with dinner in between shifts at the diner and at the station. She even got Henry up to bed, even though all he wanted to do was stay up and hear about what happened the night before.

Emma and Regina were cuddling on the couch when Ruby came in to say goodbye. "You two really do make an adorable couple. Let me know if you need me to pick up any shifts, okay?"

"Thanks Rubes, I owe you one."

"Nah, think of it as payback for the full moon nights. Have a good night!"

"I'm going to have to give her more nights off, aren't I?

Regina sleepily mumbled, "Most likely, but it's worth it, isn't it?"

Emma pulled her close, "Completely. Did you want to go upstairs?" Regina picked her head up and raised an eyebrow. "Not like that! I just meant did you want to sleep in your bed. I could carry you up."

"Mmm, I'd like that, but only if you stay with me."

"I'm not going anywhere."

Regina snuggled into Emma, "Good."


	5. Chapter 5

Over the next few days, Emma had a lot of work to do, which meant that she didn't get to see Regina often. Although she did spend her nights at the mansion. After the first night, Emma realized she didn't want to spend another night away from Regina, they had spent enough time not being together. It only took five days for Regina to invite Emma to live with them. They both acted like Emma would be taking a guest room and it just made sense because there wasn't much room with Mary Margaret and David, but it didn't fool anyone. The guest room remained untouched. Henry was elated that his moms were finally together.

They held a group funeral for the Blue Fairy, Happy, and the other victims. Most of the townspeople weren't too upset about Blue, it was only people like Archie who had been granted his wish, or the other fairies, that were inconsolable. Happy's death was received similarly, many people found his optimism obnoxious.

Faith stayed in Storybrooke for a few weeks to make sure that everyone got settled again and that Dracula hadn't left anything behind. When they tried returning to the castle, they couldn't find it, which helped to support their theory that it traveled with him.

"20 bucks says they're engaged in 3 months, married 6 months after that. Extra 10 if there's a kid within a year of them getting married. Oh, and we're counting from today"

"Damn, Slayer, you're just begging me to take your money. Okay, you win if it's before or on, I win if it's longer." Faith nodded and took Ruby's hand to seal the deal, but was pulled into a hug. "Don't be a stranger. If for no other reason, then I want to see baby pictures!"

"You got it, Rubes." Faith walked over to Emma and Regina, who were holding hands.

Emma raised an eyebrow, "What was that with Ruby? Do I need to worry? Or talk to Buffy?"

Faith laughed, "Nah," She grabbed Emma into a huge hug and whispered, "If you could get engaged within the next 3 months, it'd help me out a little though."

Emma looked over to Regina, "I think we can work something out." The two broke apart and Faith headed over to Regina, holding out her hand to shake it, trying to spare Regina the awkward hugging part.

"It was nice to meet you Faith. Thank you for coming to Storybrooke."

"Anytime. But just remember, if you hurt her…"

"I know."

"I'm sure I'll see you all soon." Faith shot a meaningful look at Emma, who just smiled back. The Slayer put on her helmet and got on her motorcycle, kicking it to life and gunning it towards the town line.

When she was out of sight, Emma turned to Regina, "What did she threaten you with?"

"She told me if I hurt you, I would wish I was in the Enchanted Forest in your parent's dungeon."

Emma laughed and took Regina's hand. "Interesting. She threatened to find a way to send me back to Neverland if I hurt you. Guess we better not do that." Emma leaned in to give Regina a quick peck on the lips and both women pulled away with a smile.

* * *

><p>Thank you for reading! This is my longest fic and only the third I've ever finished, I hope you enjoyed it. Please review and let me know!<p> 


End file.
